The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

firsttimeworrywart

Hey happyclappy90

The best thing to do is to just contact your Solicitor and ask, don't worry about pestering him! I've learnt not to take everyone else's experience to heart as each sale/purchase is completely different, whilst someone on here may have exchanged two weeks after receiving their final report, you'll have other people (like me) who received their final report around five weeks ago and still waiting to exchange.

Keep in regular contact with your solicitor, don't let your file fall to the bottom of a stack of papers!

Good luck - hope it goes well

ka7e

ka7e wrote: »

Buying/selling for the first time in 35 years, so it feels like we're FTBs.


28/1 We accept offer on our house, it's been on the market for 17 weeks and there is a lack of suitable (to us) properties around. Buyers are aware the sale is dependent on us finding a property. They are FTBs with mortgage offer in hand. We want to downsize, but smaller houses are snapped up for BTL due to local conditions. Solicitors engaged.



31/1 Valuation carried out.


11/2 Our ID checks carried out.


22/2 We get a phone call from a surveying firm to arrange a valuation. Checking with our EA, our buyers have been advised to apply for a better mortgage rate and have re-applied with a different lender. We have offered on a property, but it is turned down. Decide to wait on result of 2nd valuation before proceeding.


26/2 2nd valuation.


28/2 We sign contracts and contents paperwork and it is returned to our solicitors.


8/3 Buyers mortgage application has gone to audit. Still awaiting decision. House we previously offered on is now SSTC.


12/3 View a property (empty) that could be a possibility. The EA is aware of our interest, but we don't offer as still no news on our buyer's mortgage.



26/3 Make tentative offer on preferred property, refused, counter-offer, we offer again and it's accepted. Still no news on buyer's mortgage application, other than that their advisor has left the company and it is now being dealt with by a manager. 4 weeks since valuation!


29/3 Buyer's mortgage offer approved.


5/4 Searches authorised for new property.


17/4 Contracts arrive at our solicitors from seller. Our buyers are now chaffing at the bit and chasing our EA - they hoped for an April completion! Are advised it will probably be early June.


Update -


22/5 Search report arrives on our doorstep. No surprises and we have no problems with the findings. Inform solicitors to proceed.


23/5 Our EA phones, he's rather irate as he has been informed that our solicitors have raised 14 inquiries on our new property. None refer to the searches and all could have been raised before the searches were completed. They include proof of POA for the seller's daughter! They hope to have inquiry replies by next week. Their communications with us have been extremely poor - information has only been forthcoming when either my EA or I have phoned for updates. An email link for updates has never been sent to us despite 3 requests. Our buyers are really antsy. Trying to pack and my parcel tape has failed and boxes are audibly popping open. Stressed and fed up!

25/5 (Sat) Contract for onward purchase received and signed - will be handed in on Tues because of Bank Hol. If enquiries are sorted this week, maybe exchange next week?



13/6 After phoning my solicitors at 10am and being told exchange is today and to hold off for an hour for confirmation before booking removals for Fri 21st....still no news. Horrible feeling I will have lost the chance to book with my preferred firm as it only had 2 dates free in the next 2 weeks (spoke to them on Tues) and Fridays book quickly.


Our buyers apparently cannot access their ISA in time for Friday. Now pencilled in for exchange on Mon 17th and complete Tues 25th - the only other free day my removers have. Feel like I've been through the wringer today and will again on Monday, no doubt!


17/6 Well, we didn't exchange today (again) - our buyers couldn't get funds released for deposit in time. Still supposed to complete on the 25th, but I cannot book a removal firm until that is confirmed. Went with EA to show my daughter the (empty) house we're buying and found the seller's daughter and her husband mowing the lawn and tidying the garden. Nice!



TODAY - exchanged!! :j Lost my slot with preferred removals firm, but managed to book a new firm for £500 cheaper than my original quote :beer: Thanks to correll for the moral support!

mpr87

mpr87 wrote: »

Really worried our purchase is going to fall through because of a problem up the chain.



we've signed all our docs but not sent funds as the solicitor told us to hold fire until they are actually given a firm date by the vendors solicitor. The vendors solicitor apparently has a a bad reputation.



anway, after chasing numerous times the EA phones me back at 10 past 5 on a friday to tell me the vendor has been told they have to complete on friday the 21st or the chain will collapse. No one has told our solicitor and due to commitments it looks like we may not be able to get to the bank to do a transfer/sort isa's out etc for the deposit until wednesday morning,



I've been telling people for weeks we are going on holiday on friday which has also fallen on deaf ears.



the EA has tried to suggest we just send funds today without even being told to by our solicitor. I don't trust a word the EA says so either way i need to wait until monday before we speak to her before doing anything but i'm just worried there isn't going to be enough time now.

Following on from this it has been a mentally challenging couple of days. Don't think i've ever been so stressed.



Contacted our solicitor yesterday to chase up what we had been told by EA on Friday. Solicitor chased the vendors solicitor and we were told that our vendors solicitor still hadn't sorted their deeds issue out and that completion wasn't going to possible this week.



This suited us because we are on holiday for the weekend and have Life insurance issues which we wanted to have in place before we complete so we had started to breathe easy.



Then at 10am I get an email stating the issues up the chain are now sorted and that we have to complete by monday at the latest or the chain will collapse so now we have had to frantically arrange for time from work during our busiest period to get funds etc sorted.



We tried to push back for July to given us time to get sorted but this was basically refused so we have no choice to complete now despite us ideally needing a week or 2 extra to get sorted.


Anyway, we instructed our solicitor to request funds from nationwide for the mortgage, we are sending our deposit by bank transfer tomorrow. We go away for the weekend on friday and hopefully when we come back we will have some keys to a house!...Wish me luck!!

correll

@ka7e Great news! Have a lovely time in your new home

correll

@mpr87, I know it is all very rushed, but you will be able to have a nice weekend away and come back to a new home. It seems a lot of buying and selling of property goes like yours - nothing for ages, then everyone suddenly gets active. Good luck!!

letitbe90

@mpr78 I guess an inconvenient completion is better than no completion, so I’d look on the bright side.

DrSpendLittle

An update on our timeline

Cash buyers > Us (leasehold) > empty second home (no chain)

08/03 House marketed
11/03 Accepted offer on our house
11/03 Solicitors instructed for sale
26/03 Draft sale contracts received
02/04 House viewed
02/04 Offer made
03/04 Offer accepted
03/04 Requested instruction pack from solicitor
08/04 Mortgage application submitted
08/04 Buyers full structural survey conducted on our house (no issues)
09/04 Extra documents sent to mortgage company
11/04 Instruction pack received from solicitor
12/04 Draft sale contracts signed and returned
18/04 Lender valuation conducted
Loooong wait over Easter weekend….
24/04 Mortgage offer issued
25/04 Instruction pack signed and returned to Solicitor
25/04 Solicitor instructed to undertake searches
03/05 Full structural survey conducted
Loooong wait over Bank Holiday weekend….
09/05 Survey report received (no issues)
10/05 Survey sent to solicitor
10/05 Progress update request sent to solicitor
21/05 Complaint raised with the Firm over our inept conveyancer i.e. radio silence, lack of communication and lack of progress. We were told inept conveyancer was on holiday
23/05 Head of Conveyancing immediately starts work on the file and sends for searches.
28/05 Coal mining search and ground sure homebuyers search returned
29/05 Drainage and water search returned
20/05 Declaration of Trust instructions and Building Survey resent
29/05 Queries received from buyers solicitor (they had been sent 26/04)
31/05 Queries returned to solicitor
03/06 More queries from buyers solicitor received and returned
04/06 Mortgage deed received
11/06 Mortgage deed signed and returned
13/06 Local authority search returned
14/06 Further queries received and returned to solicitors
18/06 Still waiting on vendors solicitors to respond to queries. Called the EA to chase
18/06 Report on searches received - no issues
19/06 Declaration of trust instructions confirmed

Spoke to solicitor yesterday and she said we should be in a position to start talking dates soon.

Got removal companies visiting next week for quotes.

Hoping for an early July completion, 5 days after exchange (mortgage stipulation)

harkessmd

harkessmd wrote: »

So we are first time buyers and here is our story so far...
07/01 - Offer accepted
10/01 - Full Mortage Offer
15/01 - Homebuyers Survey Satisfactory
01/04 - Contract Papers Signed (Not Dated)

Then we found out that the top of the chain only applied for grant of probate the start of April and with the current delays this is not looking likely to be granted yet!
Thus, Still waiting to exchange... :think:

Update to our timeline!
Finally exchanged today. completion date of 5th July.
Probate still not granted but someone agreed to break the chain!
Let the mortgage payments begin!! :beer:

T3l3graph

We’ve been asked to rent and exchange with an extended completion of 6 months
This allows us to complete on our sale whilst tiying our vendors into selling to us within 6 months once their purchase has completed
My concern is although we have a legally binding contract for them to sell, how much would it cost to enforce, how much compensation would we get back if they failed to sell
6 months is a long time in which we are insuring after exchange a house we will be buying but not living in and how could we prove due care if something happened to this house as we are not living their and it’s occupied by the current owners

KatieDee

We're on tenterhooks at the moment as our vendor needs to confirm with her seller that they're happy to complete on the 11th of July. She has already moved into supported accommodation so I can't see there being a problem, but if we don't exchange in the next two days then we have another month's worth of rent to pay.

Our vendors solicitor has been on leave for the past two days so she hasn't been able to confirm what is happening. Our solicitor is waiting on their response. I haven't even sent the funds over to him as he hasn't requested them.

We could take the risk and give notice without exchanging, but every website in the world advises against this.

It was all going so smoothly as well! :mad: